1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for recording dots per line on a recording medium, and a printing method therefor.
2. Related Background Art
A printing apparatus for recording dots per line, the so-called serial dot printer, has hitherto been used widely. The features of the serial dot printer are: compared to a line printer or a page printer, it can be fabricated more compactly at lower costs, and it can also be arranged to change printing speeds or to change printing resolutions by changing the space between prints. However, a printer of the kind is arranged to execute printing of each line by separate printing scans. Therefore, it is important to enhance the positional precision of prints between lines in order to improve the printing quality. Further, there is a need for providing a uniform printing quality even when the speed, resolution, or other printing conditions are changed.
However, in the case of a serial dot printer whose printing head is driven by the application of heat, for example, differences in heating condition of the printing elements and other related conditions greatly affect the printing quality if the conditions, such as intervals of driving time for the respective dots (printing elements) of the printing head, should change in accordance with the printing speeds (the traveling speeds of the printing head). Therefore, it is extremely difficult to obtain the optimal driving condition of the printing head for each of the plural kinds of printing speeds, and change driving conditions appropriately in accordance with the respective printing speeds.